


The Deadbeat Dads Society

by 500purplecats (Blaithin)



Series: Cat's Cradle [2]
Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Past Rucas, References to parental neglect and abandonment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 22:39:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4853249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blaithin/pseuds/500purplecats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucas’s absentee Dad comes to visit and he enlists Maya to pretend to be his girlfriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Deadbeat Dads Society

**The Deadbeat Dads Society**

 

Maya was a founding member of the Deadbeat Dads Society.

After all it took a special kind of man to abandon his wife and toddler and beg for money when his daughter tracked him down, fifteen years later.  That type of thing was lifetime membership material.

Until Lucas had joined their school, Maya's club had been a lonely one. It had taken him a while to share the gory details of his parents’ divorce, but considering his father’s string of affairs with vastly younger women and that one humiliating, public sex scandal, Maya couldn’t really blame him for keeping mum.

For a few years, Lucas had split his time between both parents. He flew between Texas and New York often enough to exchange Christmas cards with the air hostesses. It was hard, but it might have worked if his Dad hadn’t been such a flake; the man forgot about birthdays and graduations and picking his son up from the airport. Despite what the songs said, loving someone didn’t solve problems, it didn’t make things simpler or easier.

Maya had been the one Lucas talked to when he’d finally decided to stop visiting Texas and in return, Maya had recruited him to help find her absentee dad a year later. Lucas had driven her to all the way to Ohio and later, he’d held her as she’d cried bitter, angry tears after her dad rejected her again.

Despite shared membership to their exclusive club, Maya and Lucas hadn’t talked for a while. Not since Lucas and Riley’s on-off- on relationship had ground to a definitive halt, eight months ago. For all Riley’s and Lucas’s attempts to remain friends, battle lines had been drawn, and Maya hadn’t been on Lucas’s side. Riley and Lucas were amicable enough now; Riley had stumbled into a relationship with Charlie Gardner and Lucas had dated a string of cheerleaders, but things were never the same as they had been. Their group never really recovered. Maya saw Lucas in the canteen and they exchanged pleasantries in the hallway but she didn’t think she could call herself his friend anymore.

It was a surprise then when Maya found Lucas waiting at her locker the Friday before Christmas.

“Maya, I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend.”

 “What?”

“I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend, just for one day,” Lucas repeated, running a hand over his face. There were purple circles pressed like bruises under his eyes and his jaw was thinner, sharper than Maya remembered. “Look, I know this is weird –”

“Just a bit.”

“– but my dad’s coming to visit and I told him I have a girlfriend. He wants to meet her.”

A sharp reply curled across Maya’s tongue, but she bit it back at the last minute. Maya knew Lucas had stopped visiting Texas a few years ago, she could only guess that his dad visiting New York was a mending of bridges, of sorts.

Maya licked her lips carefully; they were peeling from the constant movement between the freezing outdoors and heated buildings.  “Why did you say you had a girlfriend?”

Lucas ran his hands through his hair, “I wasn’t lying when I told him and he’s got this new wife. She’s only a few years older than us. I dunno, I guess I thought if he saw her next to my girlfriend, he’d be embarrassed or something.” Lucas laughed, the sound like a dull bell, “Stupid, no?”

Maya shrugged. It was a stupid idea, but Lucas didn’t look like he needed to hear that right now.

“Why don’t you ask Missy, she’d love to be your girlfriend?” Maya heaved her bag over her shoulder. “Or Riley? I know you guys broke up, but she’d be great at this. Better than me.”

 “No. Not Riley,” Lucas said quickly, wincing. “I guess I just remembered those times we helped each other out with Dad stuff. I haven’t told anyone else he’s coming… You know what, never mind. I’ll say my girlfriend’s sick or something.” He waved at Maya and turned around, “It was good talking to you, Maya.”

Maya watched him walk away, her eyes lingering on the broad slump of his shoulders and the way his hair curled at the nape of his neck. Maya wasn’t Lucas’s friend anymore; he was her best friend’s ex. She didn’t owe him anything.  Maya cursed.

“Wait!” She called and ran to catch up to him. “You’re paying for dinner.”

Lucas sighed in relief and he smiled down at her, “Of course.”

“And don’t let my size fool you,” Maya continued, falling into step with him easily, “they once kicked me out of the All-you-can-eat-crab-house.”

“You always were a menace at buffets.”

Maya shrugged philosophically, “It’s one of my many endearing qualities.”

00

  
Maya was only half dressed when Lucas arrived.

He knocked on her front door and Maya answered it, feeling a strange longing for the days Lucas would just appear outside her window with a bag of fast food and a smile.

“Come on in, I’m nearly finished.” Maya gestured to the small living room vaguely, “make yourself at home.”

“Is your mom in?” Lucas asked, sitting primly on the edge of the couch.

“No,” Maya said, wandering back into her bedroom, “She’s working night shifts again, trying to get more money for Christmas.”

“Oh, right.” Lucas mumbled and Maya felt herself bristle at his awkwardness.

Lucas’s family was stinking rich and for all his good qualities, he sometimes got weird when Maya reminded him that her family most definitely wasn’t. There had been a time when he’d tried to sneakily buy things for her; books and art supplies she had wanted, but couldn’t afford, had appeared in her locker or ‘he’d found them on offer’. Maya had been furious, humiliated, when she’d realised what he’d been doing.

Tugging a dress over her head, Maya turned to look at herself in the mirror. A knot had worked its way between her eyebrows and she rubbed at her forehead distractedly. Finally, Maya took a deep breath and made herself go back into the living room.

“I’m ready.”

Lucas glanced up at the sound of her voice. His mouth dropped a little, eyes wide. “You, er, you look nice.” He stuttered.

Maya rolled her eyes, “With compliments like that my head will soon be too big to fit through the doorway.” She slung her bag over her shoulder and gestured towards the door, “coming?”

“Oh, yeah. Right.” Lucas stumbled after her. For an athlete, he was awful clumsy.

“You do look really pretty.”  Lucas tried again as they made their way downstairs.

“Better.” Maya said approvingly.

00

Michael, Lucas’s father, was tall, blonde and charming.

He engulfed Maya into a hug as soon as he met her and called her a beautiful young lady, laughing – a deep belly chuckle – when she blushed to the roots of her hair. Maya couldn’t help but compare him to the sunken-cheeked, hard-eyed man she’d found in Ohio.

“Lucas,” Michael greeted, “it’s good to see you, son.”

“You too, dad.” Lucas said stiffly and the two men edged closer, hugging as if the other was made of glass.

Lucas was a carbon copy of his dad. They were both tall and drawn in straight, sharp lines; their arms were thick with muscle and when they smiled, dimples threatened at the corners of their mouths. Maya wondered what Lucas’ mother must have felt, looking at her beloved son and seeing her cheating husband so neatly recreated.

“So, where are we going?” Maya asked, shivering as the icy wind bit at her bare legs. Her thin jacket looked pretty, but it wasn’t a match for a New York winter.

“Darling?” Michael asked turning to the leggy brunette he had brought with him.

His new wife, a twenty-five-year-old ex-model whose face had so far not moved at all, smiled faintly. Maya could see why Lucas felt so resentful. “There’s a Christmas Market nearby, I’d like to go to that.”

Maya turned to look at Lucas incredulously, but the boy only had eyes for his father and nodded acceptingly. Maya’s froze a smile onto her face and let them lead her away.

The Christmas Market was a small cluster of carved wooden stalls, dressed in twinkling fairy lights and banners of holly and ivy. The smell of mulled wine, pine and minced pies clung over the entire area and crowds of people choked down alcohol from plastic cups and poked at overpriced trinkets.

It was not Maya’s idea of a good time; within seconds her toes and fingers were frozen solid and her teeth were rattling so loudly in her head she was sure everyone nearby must be able to hear her. Lucas glanced over at her apologetically. “Sorry, I should have said something.”

Maya sent him a rude gesture, too cold to be polite.

A smile twitched at the edges of his face and Lucas shrugged his winter coat off, draping it across her shoulders. “Here, this will help.”

Heat flared in Maya’s core and she stared dumbly as he helped push her arms through the sleeves. Lucas was a whole lot bigger than she was and his coat drowned her. Her hands disappeared somewhere in folds of fabric and the bottom of the coat was longer than her dress.

Lucas snorted, tugging the collar up around Maya’s frozen nose.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it off.” She mumbled. “We can’t all be giants you know.”

“I’m not laughing,” Lucas said with a grin, “You look adorable.”

“Oi, lovebirds, hurry up!”

Maya leapt back in surprise. Michael was watching them, wiggling his eyebrows. Lucas coughed awkwardly, his cheeks red; without another word they moved to catch the adults up. 

00

  
The model’s suggestion of the Christmas Market ended up being a pretty good idea.

Lucas’s Dad was trying hard to rebuild some of the damage he had caused, but the conversation between him and Lucas was perilous, awkward and stilted. The Christmas Market gave them a constantly changing supply of things to talk about: brown sugar dusted cakes, glass ornaments, a puzzle stall.

Maya spent ten minutes twisting a wooden Rubik cube and listening as Lucas and his Dad talked about a Christmas they had shared back in Texas. The model wasn’t exactly the best conversationalist, but when Maya glanced over the other woman was listening in to the men’s conversations just as intently as she was.

The next stall along was full of Christmas inspired headdress. Maya found a flower scarf which she stuffed around Lucas’s face and took a picture of. After she threatened gleefully to send the picture to everyone she knew Lucas chased her around the stall, cornering her against the reindeer headbands.

Maya was laughing too hard to escape and Lucas grabbed her waist, twisting her around to grab the phone for her hands.  He held it over her head with a crow of triumph.

“Unfair advantage,” Maya said, jumping futilely at his hands.

Lucas put his hand on her forehead, forcing her down. With his other, he deleted the picture and then dropped the phone back into her hands with a crooked grin. “Pleasure doing business with you, Miss Hart.”

“Just you wait, Huckleberry.”

The nickname escaped Maya before she could stop it and Lucas’s smile dropped.

Maya’s stomach clenched. Lucas and Maya had always found it easy to talk to, and have fun with, each other; despite the distance that had developed between them in the past year, their pretend date had been easy, familiar. Maya had just reminded Lucas that she had dropped him like a hot potato as soon as he and Riley broke up. She had reminded them both that this evening wasn’t real.

“Sorry.” Maya mumbled.

“Don’t be.” Lucas said, “I just never thought I’d miss you calling me Huckleberry.”

Michael and the Model waved at them to catch up and Maya and Lucas followed silently. 

Maya tugged at Lucas’s arm abruptly. “If you want, I’ll make sure to call you a Huckleberry at least one a week when this is over. Twice on the holidays.”

Lucas rolled his eyes, his mouth twitching. “I’d like that.”

00

Two hours into the evening, they stopped for food. Or rather, they bought a selection of over-priced burgers and plastic cups of mulled wine and tried to find a quiet corner to eat in.

Lucas and Maya had been stuck with lukewarm coke – a feat considering the freezing temperature- so Maya was quick to accept when Michael offered them a sip of his mulled wine. She coughed at the first gulp, eyes watering a little.

Michael laughed at her expression and took the cup back, “Bit too young perhaps.” He said.

“Yeah,” Maya said dryly, “That was the problem.”          

She had found herself pressed awkwardly against Lucas. It seemed almost natural when he curled an arm around her shoulders, tucking her into his side. Maya told her stomach to stop twisting; Lucas was pretending to be her boyfriend. It didn’t mean anything when his hand came to rest on her shoulder, thumb stroking the sensitive skin on the back of her neck.

None of it was real.

Twenty minutes later the food and conversation had dried up. The model coughed a little into the awkward silence and suggested they head back to their hotel.

“Yeah, I’ve got to get Maya home as well.” Lucas added quickly. Maya raised an amused eyebrow at him.

“Of course, of course.” Michael said. He rubbed at the back of his neck looking, for the first time, something other than charming and self-assured. “Listen, I know I haven’t been the best father and I have a lot to make up for, but I want you to know that I’m trying. And, I’m going to keep trying.”

The muscles in Lucas’s face were moving, clenching as he listened. Maya suspected if he’d a girl he would have let himself cry.

“Thanks, Dad.” Lucas said thickly and they hugged once again, slapping each other on the back.

Maya’s throat tightened at the sight of them. Lucas’s dad wasn’t going to win any awards for his parenting skills; he was pretty bad at a whole lot of things in fact. But he had one thing over Maya’s dad, he loved his son. She wasn’t sure Lucas would be allowed back into the Deadbeat Dads Society after this.

Michael turned to Maya and drew her into another hug, “It’s been lovely to meet you, Maya. You two are a lovely couple. I can see Lucas cares for you very much. You should join us for lunch soon.”

“Yeah,” Maya mumbled awkwardly and stepped back into Lucas. She didn’t bother moving as they waved goodbye, pressing up against the hot line of Lucas’s torso. It felt nice, natural.

Maya refused to think about that too much.

00

They came to a stop as they reached the edge of the Christmas Market. Above them, fairy lights spilled glittering stars onto the ground; Lucas’s hair looked burnished gold in their light, his skin glowing.

 “Listen, I just wanted to say thanks. You were great tonight.”

“It was nothing,” Maya mumbled.

Lucas licked at his lips nervously.  “It made me realise how much I miss you. Stupid nicknames included.”

Maya’s chest constricted. She almost told him she missed him too, she almost said she hated the idea of not seeing him again, that she still felt awful about the way she’s ignored him for so long.  If the choice between Riley and Lucas came up again Maya would still choose Riley, but she would realise what she was losing this time. 

In the end, Maya didn’t say any of things, she was too much of a coward, and instead drawled lazily “You know, I was promised a dinner and this totally doesn’t count.”

Lucas grinned, placing a heart over his heart mockingly. “Are you unsatisfied with my hospitality?”

“Damn right I am, cowboy.” Maya replied, “I expected Steak. Or at least a burger on a plate.”

“Well I wouldn’t want to tarnish my reputation; we best go and get some dinner. My treat?”

Maya hesitated. Riley loomed between them. From the expression on Lucas’s face, he knew where her mind had gone.

“I want to, I really do but…

“Maya…”

 “Just listen.” Maya gestured for him to be quiet, “I need to go and talk to Riley first. She’s my best friend and this, whatever this is, needs to be ok with her.”

Lucas nodded, “You’re a good friend.”

Maya laughed weakly, “Yeah, I think some people might argue against that. Rain-check?”

“Anytime.”

Maya waved at him awkwardly, taking a step back.

“Wait.” Before she could turn away, Lucas grabbed hold of her wrist, tugging her back against him. At her puzzled look, he gestured upwards.  Strung out over their heads, illuminated by glowing fairy lights was a thick sprig of mistletoe.

 “Just, while you’re still my pretend girlfriend,” Lucas said softly, bending down slowly, giving her time to pull away if she wanted.

Maya stopped breathing, her body locking in anticipation. Their mouths met. Lucas’s arm snaked around her waist, drawing her towards him and she rocked up onto her toes to meet him.  Her arms locked around his neck, his oversized coat dropping down over her fingertips. Lucas’s mouth was hot against her hers, tongue running over the seam of her lips. Maya gasped, toes curling as Lucas’s hand cupped her face, moving upwards to thread through her hair.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds but felt longer. When they broke apart, Maya was lightheaded, dizzy with giddiness.

“Sorry,” Lucas said breathlessly.

“Liar,” Maya retorted.

He shrugged, “Yeah, I am. I’ll see you later?”

“Bet on it, Huckleberry.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Part of My Girl Meets World Trope Bingo. 
> 
> See my Tumblr for details or to request a fic: http://500purplecats.tumblr.com/


End file.
